Update on Abby, Praises and Tough Decisions.

From Michelle:

We have so much to be thankful for.

• A couple of months ago, Abby was so weak she had trouble standing. Today she is RUNNING everywhere she goes. She is climbing, dancing and and riding her bike.


• A few months ago, Abby was dependent on a feeding tube for her nutrition, now she is eating tons of healthy foods and gaining weight.


• For almost a year, Abby's hands have been shaking so badly she couldn't draw or color. Our little perfectionist would get frustrated and scribble all over the page and then throw it away. Now her hands are steady and she is beginning to color again.


• For almost a year, the chemo made her voice hoarse, low and monotone. Today, she sounds like Abby again and is singing beautifully.

In many ways we feel like we have our daughter back. Yes, she will still need chemo for a long time, but she is handling the lower doses much better.

Abby was seen at her oncology clinic today. Her chemo was held for the last 3 weeks, and some big decisions needed to be made. Abby white blood cells are BARELY high enough to restart her chemo (less than one percent over the magic line). When her nurse first told me what her counts were, she said that the doctors were in a conference, deciding how much chemo to give her. She said they were wanting to give her double the dose of daily chemo. Since Abby's bone marrow is just now recovering from a 50% dose, Brent and I were not comfortable with increasing it.

Treating cancer is a dance. Her doctors and I worry when they have to hold her chemo, because if they are not treating her the cancer could return. If they give her too little chemo, then the cancer could return. If they give her too much chemo, then her bone marrow tanks and they have to hold her chemo while she recovers.

Abby has a wonderful doctor, who is a always willing to explain what she is doing and answer all of our questions. She talked with me for quite a while today. What they decided in conference was to restart her daily chemo at the 50% dose (this was Abby's original dose). The other chemo that Abby takes once a week was cut in half.

Normally patients are only seen once a month during this phase, but Abby's doctor wants to see Abby once a week for now. She wants to escalate the doses as soon as Abby's counts are high enough, but she also wants to watch her closely for side effects. Some side effects are annoying, others are very painful and last a life time. Finding the best balance is critical. I really appreciate them watching Abby so closely, but we are looking forward to less frequent visits.

The good news for Abby is she no longer needs to be isolated and she can eat whatever she wants. She is celebrating by building a HUGE salad. She looks happier than a kid at Christmas.

We are so excited Abby's counts are up and she is able to be at Samrawit's slumber party on Friday. We have a lot of outings planned for the next week. I am very thankful that Abby is healthy enough to participate in all of the fun. No one in the family wants to go out if Abby can't go too.

Since we are restarting chemo today, her counts may start dropping in a week or two, so we will need to be cautious again. For now, we plan on enjoying our time out as much as possible.


Abby gets loved on by Kadan Block when Amy came up
for a visit last week.

Abby's hands are steady now, and she is finally able again
to color in the lines which makes Little Princess very happy.